


In Her Own Right

by NightsSweetDismay (Jaeflr)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:01:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29102205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaeflr/pseuds/NightsSweetDismay





	1. 1

According to the lore, witches and where's always been enemies. No one remembers how or when the conflict started, was it when witches would capture and enslave the Weres as body guards or organ donors for spells. Or was it when the Weres would capture young witches and torture them until they casted spells to harm their own covens.

***

Zenaida rushed around her store, she had kept her eye on the denver skyline and now it looked like snow and she wanted to be home before that happened

Zenaida rushed around her shop finishing up inventory, she had kept a watchful eye on the Denver skyline as a storm had built in the sky and now it was too close to starting to snow for comfort. Zen wanted to be home and in some sweats before it started to snow. She blew her dark silver bangs out of her face, she had only one more shelf of books before she could go home without feeling guilty. Sumi, her roommate, best friend and only employee, had left two hours ago and hopefully would have dinner finished by the time Zen made it home.

Zen was nearly done with her last shelf for the evening when she heard the chimes form the front door only seconds after the hair on her arms stood on end.

"Of course, just as I'm about to close," she sighed in frustration.

Zen squared her shoulders and plastered on her fake 'customer service' smile as she moved to the counter.

"Hi, welcome to La Lier, can I help you find something?"

The tall gentleman at the counter turned and smiled.

" Yes, a friend of mine recommended your services, I am searching for information that might be located within a very old and obscure text. You are Cerridwen, right?"

Zenaida had already spotted the pack tattoo behind the man's left ear, but the old Irish name he assumed to be hers confirmed had suspicions- werewolf, or at least someone affiliated with them.

Each group within the magic community (witches, fae, werewolves, werefelines, etc.) had a mark located somewhere specific based on their species/ community. Wolves had them behind the left ear, fae had theirs on their right inner wrist, witches, like Zenaida, had marks on their back right at the base of the spine. Within each of these groups was further categorization as each mark was different depending on the faction, pack, or coven that the individual belonged to, as your loyalties officially change so does the insignia.

This wolf's insignia was that of Bloodmoon, the largest and most powerful pack in North America. Bloodmoon was also a pack Zenaida had never personally encountered before so she was more apt to tread carefully.

"Cerridwen? Hmm... What text are you looking for? What does it contain?"

The wolf eyed Zen's cautious face before apparently deciding she was to be trusted. His shoulders bunched with tension, his face uncomfortable and he cleared his throat.

"Ok i kinda fibbed... I don't know what text I'm looking for. I just know that there are whispers in the pack that you can help us, and my Alpha doesn't know I'm here. It's just something is happening and no one in my pack has answers, something awful. It's not even just my pack we keep getting documented cases of this same phenomenon from all over the states and even a few outside of it too if the rumors are to be believed."

"It was last summer when we started having less she-wolves getting pregnant, but May was when our last pregnant she-wolf gave birth and we haven't had a single she-wolf go full term or conceive ever since....we- well I was hoping that you might be able to give us some answers or at least point us in the direction of answers?"

Zenaida was in shock, wolves had some of the highest fertility and infant survival rates. She was so intrigued by the problem that she completely forgot her previous desire to go home, but not so caught up as to forget her cautions.

"Wait you said your alpha doesn't know you're here, what happens if he doesn't approve of my help? I'm sorry but I can't risk my life or livelihood, more than the wolves depend on my help. So I would love to assist you but it's just too risky..."

Zenaida watched as the man's face turned into absolute devastation and decided to give him a small nugget of information before he left. With a small sigh she called to the man as he moved to the door.

"Wait..." he stopped but didn't turn, "... I can't help much but you may be able to determine between a curse and a poison by checking the afflicted couples marks. If it's a curse, the mark will be variated in some form or fashion, if there is no change in the marks it's a poison... I hope that helps."

"Thanks, I'll pass that information on," he said before slipping out of the door and down the sidewalk.

Zenaida quickly closed the shop as the storm was starting. As she made her drive home she couldn't stop thinking about the odd occupancy of the wolves.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't until 20 minutes later when Zenaida was getting out of her SUV she realized she had been distracted the entire drive.

"Oops," she mumbled as she entered the back door, "Sumi, where are you, ya kumquat?"

"Kitchen!" She heard from the front of the spacious estate.

Zenaida's profession as The Keeper had come with a massive 6 bedroom Tudor estate. And even though the house seemed empty with only her and Sumi, Zen truly enjoyed her position of working with the council but also behind the scenes.She remembered when the council had first approached her about the position.

Zenaida exited her terminal, she had just spent time with a rouge witch faction in the Amazon.They had taught her all sorts of information about the rare plants and how they make their world- famous potions, they had even sent her with seeds and samples which according to others had never happened before. Zen stood outside JFK waiting for a taxi, as she planned to stay at her favorite hostel in the city when she felt a powerful presence behind her.

"Ida Marie?" a dainty voice called out.

Zenaida turned after tensing and assessed the short waifish witch. And although the woman was small and childlike in stature, the waves of power coming from her were undeniable and Zen spotted the council insignia in the hollow of the witches throat.

"Hmm... depends on who is asking" replied ten, her response laced with

attitude.

The council witch smiled.

"My name is Amira and I 'm the councils' head emissary.

And the council has requested your presence as soon as you were

reachable."

The cloaking spell that Adriana from the Amazon had placed must have worn off, good thing Zen had put her pendent back on pre flight so her power would be muted when they tried to sense her. But what could the council possibly want with her? They couldn't have figured out who her mother was and Zen stayed out of Risky situations so she wasn't in any trouble as far as she knew of.

"Do you know why they want to see me! " Zen inquired.

"No, only that it is urgent as well as time sensitive.So if you could please follow me I will portal us to the Council Grounds." Amira brightly yet assertively.

Zen followed because while she technically was powerful enough to evade the council with ease, they didn't know that and she would prefer it stay that way.

The small sprite of a woman summoned a portal around the corner from the taxi bay and motioned for Zen to go first.

Once both women were through the portal closed with a small *pop*. Zen took in the sight before her. The council grounds were a sight to behold; a lush green lawn led up a rolling hill to a massive structure that could only be described as Buckingham Palace on some serious steroids. Zen knew from public knowledge of the council that thousands of beings from all types of species lived here. The lawn was full of activity as the two women made their way towards the estate, mock battles, lectures, and little ones playing all added to the loud yet soothing atmosphere.

The doors opened before Amira or Zen could even attempt to lift a hand. The inside of the foyer was just as busy as the outside; residents, staff, and visitors all bustled about the space and beyond. Zen followed Amira while curiously watching all the activities. In her travels Zen tended to board and apprentice with small and obscure (although powerful in their own right) covens and groups, so she had never been around this many different supernaturals at once, the energies and auras were almost crushing for Zenaida's keen senses.

The pair stopped at a massive set of double doors at the end of a long hallway lined with chairs.

"The Council cleared their schedule today and marked everything for the next few days as tentative in anticipation for this meeting with you," Amira commented as she watched Zen look suspiciously at all of the empty chairs.

Zen was now itchingly curious as to why the Council wanted to meet her so badly, they couldn't possibly know who her mother was so why was she here?

Zen was given no more time to think on it as the doors began to open.

The room beyond was brightly lit as there was no ceiling to the circular room. The floors were covered with a seamless black marble with pink veins and the walls were mostly glass with columns made from the same marble as the floor. The room was strategically devoid of any furniture save for the large white round table in the middle of the room. There were about 20 people seated already and 2 spots open one that was directly in front of Zen.

This must be really important if the entire council was here.

"Hello Zenaida, welcome to the Council Grounds, you have been quite tricky for us to locate, which is part of the reason we have become interested in you."

Zen became impossibly suspicious of the Council and their intentions.

"Please sit. We have much to discuss."

Zen quietly sat down, still assessing the situation. The pale woman with red hair that was directly across from Zen cleared her throat and motioned delicately to one of the empty chairs to cut through the tense air.

Fae, thought Zen.

"Hello Zenaida, I am Councilmember Amaltheia of the Summer Court. I will be in charge of today's preceding, but first I will allow the other Council members to introduce themselves."

Amaltheia had a light lilting voice befitting their appearance. The fae next to Amaltheia then introduced themselves as Airas of the Winter Court. The Council members continued one-by-one, there were two vampires, a male and a female, Lycidas and Victoire, respectively. Next was Katherine, a witch who stared at her in confusion as though she recognized Zen but couldn't remember where from. A warlock was seated next to Katherine and announced himself as Iravior, flirtatiously, with a smirk. Even Zen couldn't deny his attractiveness, however his classically handsome features paled in comparison to the pair after him. Two daemons, with faces nearly too perfect to look at, quietly and seductively introduce themselves as Helaith the succubus and Eoron the incubus. There were two alpha wolves who glared and begrudgingly introduced themselves as Alpha Ewan and Alpha Lonan followed by two stoic pride leaders Shogrash and Safia. Seated on either side of Zen were two Valkyries named Svigjold and Helna.

Oddly enough there was one ornate and empty chair directly across from Zen that, oddly enough, no one seemed inclined to acknowledge.

Amaltheia's face was graced with a light smile as the introductions came to a close.

"You must be curious as to why we have called you, Zenaida, so let's begin."

"Millennia ago, all people of magix were ruled by the powerful dragons and all things were peaceful until the rule of King Mihail. He was unimaginably cruel, and although most of the dragons disagreed with his foul treatment of both magix and non magix folk in his purview they were unwaveringly loyal. Eventually the oppressed peoples revolted and were able to overthrow Mihail, and in the aftermath the council was formed. There was one bloodline of dragons who had isolated themselves close to the time Mihail assumed power. They were in his presence when absolutely necessary and because only a few were ever seen it was believed they were almost extinct. However when the peoples revolted this bloodline offered to fight against Mihail and their numbers were revealed to be in the tens to hundreds of thousands.

The council was made with two members of the majority species with one seat specifically for the dragons who had helped revolt, they had isolated themselves and completely disappeared as soon as the fighting was over. We keep this seat empty in the event they return as they will always have a place on the council.

"Now lets get on to the good stuff shall we? When the council was formed there was a second solitary position of equal power. This position was created so that regardless of species, age, or rank, everyone could have access to unbiased and accurate information and history. An attempt at transparency if you will. The position must be filled by a witch with no obvious ties or alliances to avoid conflict of interest. This position was named Хранцмель or The Keeper. The Keeper is a distinctly powerful individual of their own right as well as that of the position; because of the naturally long life of witches, they oft remember occurrences from before the current council members and they act as a monitor of us in the interest of the current and future generations of the masses. It is often menu generations before we have to replace the Keeper."

Amaltheia allowed silence to fall over the room as Zen absorbed and analyzed the information given. Zen scrutinized each of the council members as they all looked back at her expectantly.

"So. You are looking for a candidate for The Keeper...and you have me here because..." Zen trailed off, leaving room for anyone on the council to respond. Victoire delicately clerked her throat.

"Well, the candidates for The Keeper are chosen from a ritual that requires all council members. The ritual provides three names and from those names it is up to both the council and candidates to agree. You are our last of the three given how long it took for us to track you down but from whispering we had heard from the remote parts and groups of the world, you are our best option. However, the position is not handed over simply because your name came up you must pass a test given by each of the factions here on the council and then you can accept and finally become The Keeper.


End file.
